As the life sciences become increasingly data-driven, students with bioinformatics training are exceptionally well-positioned for careers in high-growth fields. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for data scientists are projected to grow by 36% between 2023 and 2033, while roles for medical scientists and biochemists鈥攆ields that increasingly rely on bioinformatics鈥攁re projected to grow by 11% and 9%, respectively. Bioinformatics will empower students to interpret complex datasets, enhance their competitiveness for graduate programs and careers in biotechnology, healthcare, and data science, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration between biology, computer science, computer information systems and analytics, and mathematics.
Courses
Required courses (8 hours)
BIOL 2490 Genetics (Pre-req: BIOL 1441)
BIOL 4475 Bioinformatics (Pre-req: BIOL 2490)
Electives (7-11 hours)
For majors that require Genetics, at least 11 hours of electives are required. For majors that do not require Genetics, at least 7 hours of electives are required. At least one elective must be selected from Computer Information Systems and Analytics (CISA) or Computer Science (CSCI) or Mathematics (MATH).
Biology Electives
BIOL 4431 Experimental Molecular Biology (Pre-req: BIOL 2490)
BIOL 4445 Biometry (Pre-req: BIOL 2490 and MATH 2311)
BIOL 4414 Molecular Mechanisms of Aging (Pre-req: BIOL 3402 or CHEM 4320)
BIOL 4405 Developmental Biology (Pre-req: BIOL 3402)
BIOL 4350 Current Topics in Cell Biology (Pre-req: BIOL 3402 or CHEM 4320)
Non-Biology Electives
CISA 3300 Introduction to Computer Architecture and Programming
CISA 3335 Data Analysis using Python (Pre-req: CISA 3300 or CSCI 1470)
CSCI 1470 Computer Science I
CSCI 2310 Introduction to Data Science (Pre-req: CSCI 1480)
MATH 3311 Statistical Methods (Pre-req: MATH 2341, or MATH 1491 and CSCI 1470, or MATH 1496 and CSCI 1470, or consent of instructor)
MATH 3381 Data Cleaning and Visualization (Pre-req: MATH 3311 or consent of instructor)
MATH 4371 Introduction to Probability (Pre-req: MATH 1497)